Monthly Archives: August 2014

You may be aware of it, you may not – there has been one of those modern fad things going on for a while called the Ice Bucket Challenge. I found two videos today on www.liveleak.com that for me, sum up the hype completely. The first, requires your patience, or at least don’t start pulling your teeth out as soon as you feel the need. Both ARE work safe but you will need sound.

In a world where logging your protest at the worlds worst humanitarian outrages requires nothing more than clicking a ‘like’ button on Facebook, both of these posts hit a nerve. I especially like the comment about Instagram.

At the other end of the spectrum, I found video Nº 3 below – again, its work safe but you have to wonder about the complete wanker in the car not giving the guy a dollar but saving his life by putting him on liveleak.com – have a good one

There, rant over. As you know, I am currently in the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Only half of that statement is true. This morning we took the paddle boards out for a splash. At the beach we were told that you must have a life jacket on if you want to go out beyond the swimming buoys (that’s about 50m offshore to you and me). If you don’t wear one, you will get a ticket !!!! It does strike me every time I am in the States that the poor fellas on this side of the water don’t really have the freedom that their national anthem might suggest they do – but they do have the right to bear arms though – even if that means mowing down a couple of classes of school kids with an automatic assault rifle – ah, The Home of the Brave !!!!

One thing I will say about the Yanks though – they are a tough breed – it is fookin hot here and I really can’t understand how they tolerate it all day long.

Ok, after some weeks of silence, it’s time to write again. Lets talk about Americuh for a second.

Last night I went out with some of the crew in Fort Lauderdale. We went to a bar that charges $11 per drink, that is a small beer, maybe 200ml, less than a standard bottle in the normal world. So not cheap right? We got moved on from one table because it was reserved for diners, then sat at another table and ordered a basket of chips to keep the table police off our backs. 6 drinks later (there were four of us) the bill came for $83. My friend Oscar paid it and I left a $5 tip in the sleeve. The girl on returning the credit card to Oscar took the sleeve and started to walk away. She returned seconds later and asked where we were all from. Oscar told her, and then she said – here in America you have to tip more. The cheeky bitch was unhappy with the $5 tip I left and had the nerve to tell us we needed to give more. This obviously wound us all up so I took out the $5 bill and swapped it with a $1 bill instead. We promptly left and Oscar hid around the corner so he could watch her pick up the sleeve and check the tip again. Priceless!

Went for a paddle board session this afternoon, only the second time I have tried it – I plan to try more next weekend.

Photo competition is drawing to a close – finally! Only about a month later than expected due to the slow responses. Take a look at the photo album ‘ Magnificent 7’ and leave a comment on your favourite photo. The owner of the photo with the most comments wins a very special prize to be announced next week.

I am still missing entries from a certain Mr. Westwood, Mrs. George and Mrs. Smith – I will give you all until Friday 22nd August to get them over to me.